Forwarding Design-L mail by: <carr0023@GOLD.TC.UMN.EDU> () on (by John Young) _________________________________________________________________ ___________ UNIX(r) System V Release 4.0 (gold.tc.umn.edu)
This system is for the use of authorized account holders only.
Individuals using this computer system without authority, or in excess of their authority, are subject to having all of their activities on this system monitored and recorded by system personnel.
In the course of monitoring individuals improperly using this system, or in the course of routine system maintenance, the activities of authorized account holders may also be monitored.
Anyone using this system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that if such monitoring reveals possible evidence of criminal activity, system personnel may provide the evidence gathered to law enforcement officials.
This text is taken almost verbatim from CERT Advisory CA-92:19. The idea behind it is to protect systems operators from lawsuits if they monitor the keystrokes of a hacker breaking into their system. It's quoted in Cheswick and Bellovin's _Firewalls_and_Internet_Security_ (a totally cool book BTW). They quote from the case _United States_v._Seidlitz_ 589 F.2d 152 (4th Cir. 1978) where the defendant claimed that keystroke monitoring of his attempt to break into OSI's computer constituted an illegal wiretap. The judge blew him off, of course. If you're worried that this boiler plate legalese gives them carte blanche to listen in on your IRC sessions on #bondage, then forget it. It (_probably_) doesn't. -- Man! Woman! Child! All! are up against the WALL of SCIENCE! <acspring@knoware.nl> PGP Key print:4C 17 EC 47 A1 6D AF 67 F3 B4 26 24 FE B2 0F 5E